The present invention relates to a roof assembly for a vehicle. A roof assembly includes a fixed part attachable to the fixed roof and has a passage opening therein. At least one upper closure element selectively closes and at least partly opens the roof opening in the fixed roof, while a lower closure element such as a sunshade can also be included to selectively close and at least partly open the passage opening as well.
The lower closure element includes a transverse edge (front or rear) that can be positioned adjacent to another transverse part of the roof assembly in at least one position of the lower closure element for example next to an edge of the fixed part or next to another edge of a second sunshade.
Such roof assemblies are known from practice. However, when the vehicle is driving on rough surfaces or at high speed, the transverse edge of the lower closure may start vibrating, which can cause rattling. This is a nuisance to the people present in the car.
One aspect of the present invention is roof assembly having a fixed part, upper closure element, lower closure element with a transverse edge as provided above. However, the other part includes an adhering device such as to adhere the transverse edge of the lower closure element to the transverse edge of the other part in said at least one position.
Due to the adhering device, the transverse edge will adhere to the other part. Consequently, they will support each other, thereby preventing rattling.
In a simple embodiment, the adhering device is one or more magnetizing devices. In one embodiment, said other part is made at least partly of magnetizable metal and said transverse edge of the lower closure includes at least one magnet, and preferably a plurality of magnets distributed along of said transverse edge of the lower closure.
This leads to a simple and reliable arrangement for preventing rattling of the lower closure. The magnets can be very small and can be built in the transverse edge, so that it does not cause additional building height and does not affect the appearance of the other part or transverse edge. The permanent magnets cause a reliable adherence on one hand but allow easy disengagement of the transverse edge and other part on the other hand. No additional actions have to be taken during assembly of the roof parts. However, the magnetizing devices may also include thin magnetic strips fixed on the upper side of the lower closure.